If you have the budget, go for a custom designed WordPress theme instead of settling for a free one. But don’t just go to any WordPress theme designer. To get the most out of your theme, be sure to deal with an experienced and SEO-savvy WordPress template designer/developer. Based on experience, a good designer will cost you between 3K and 5K depending on your design requirements. If you choose to settle for a custom designed WordPress theme, you need to understand that sooner or later, you will have to pay the developer to update your theme in case WordPress releases a newer version. If you agree with the above, then a custom designed WordPress theme is highly recommended for you. Alternatively, you can settle for the next best thing: premium WordPress themes.

Using premium themes like Thesis, Headway, Genesis, and Catalyst gives you an edge in terms of customization and SEO. These themes are coded by none other than the experts, so you can be sure they’re compliant with established web standards. They are also compatible with virtually all internet browsers, so you don’t have to worry about how your website will look when viewed in any browser. These are just some of the benefits that are available to you if you opt to use a Premium WordPress theme.

Premium WP themes are profitable

Cost is one of the reasons why most bloggers and webmasters choose to use premium WordPress themes over a custom designed theme. Although it shouldn’t be the case, website owners have limited resources. The truth is that to get a good custom designed WordPress theme, it will cost you some money and so if you are not ready to shell out funds for your WordPress theme, then a Premium theme will do. It will cost you just a fraction of what you pay for a custom designed theme. The problem is that you risk the branding of your website if you don’t customize it, since many of you will be using the same theme.

Premium themes and customization

The good news is that Premium WordPress themes are easy to customize. In fact, the best-selling proposition of Premium themes is their “customization”. While the ease of customization varies from one Premium theme to another, they are generally easy to customize without having to deal with code. This feature is especially attractive to website owners who don’t know how to write code and just want to focus on creating strong content and marketing their products.

Updates, upgrades and lifetime support

While not true of all Premium WordPress themes, a considerable number provide lifetime upgrades and upgrades. WordPress continues to improve, hence the release of new versions. But with improvements and enhancements to WordPress, your outdated theme may no longer work like it used to. What’s worse, it could potentially inhibit your website from reaching its full potential.

Theme support, another important feature that should be a “must have” for every WordPress theme, is not always available for all themes. If you have chosen to use a Premium Template, chances are you are getting all the support you need. Thesis topic, for example, has a great support community where you can get all the help you need. A detailed theme documentation that comes with almost every WordPress theme is not enough for you to navigate on your own. Some wild customization you need may not have been documented and therefore you want someone to help you. That is why support is essential.

Search Engine Optimization

Traffic is the lifeblood of every website. For your online business to thrive, you need to ensure that people are constantly visiting your website. The best route would be from the search engines to your website. Because? Because search engine traffic is highly targeted and therefore highly convertible. To get a piece of traffic from Google, Yahoo, and Bing, your website must be optimized for them. It’s called SEO, short for search engine optimization. Now, what do premium WordPress themes have to do with SEO? Well, SEO starts on your website and it’s called on-page optimization. If the WordPress template you are using is poorly coded and confusing for search engines, then you cannot expect much love from them. Unfortunately, this is often the reality that users of free WordPress themes face. Free WordPress templates are mostly created by novice designers. Premium WordPress templates, on the other hand, are usually created by the most experienced and knowledgeable WordPress developers/designers. And since it is widely consumed, it would be easy to identify the good from the mediocre. All it takes is a quick Google search to read reviews and testimonials from current and former users. For custom designed themes, it’s very hard to tell, especially if you don’t know how to write code.